On Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at 13:40 UTC (08:40 EST) an Arianespace Vega rocket designated (VV04) jumped off the launch pad at the Kourou Space Center, French Guiana carrying the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV). The IXV is a wedge or space plane designed for this mission to fly sub-orbital traverse half way around the Earth and reenter then splash down in the south Pacific to test ESA’s newly developed space flight and reentry systems. Here’s the write up I did on the mission: https://danspace77.com/2015/02/10/europes-ixv-space-plane-prepares-for-launch/